the sun hasn't died
by MedusaOfTheSpecies
Summary: Ginny Weasley has the ability to see things for what they really are through glitches. It isn't a pretty sight. :: GinnyTom, superhero!au/rebellion!au for Emma and QLFC


**Dedications** : For the wonderful Emma (Public Static Void) who requested a GinnyTom superhero!au ages ago. Enjoy, darling!

Thank you to Lexi and Amber for editing! *hugs*

 **Written for:**

QLFC Round 5: The Matrix. Prompts: (word) bloodthirsty, (word) token, (object) mirror.

A/N: Instead of doing a matrix!au, I decided to use the theme of rebellion/breaking away from the norm, and the idea of glitches.

Charms Class at Hogwarts: Write a story in which the number 7 plays an important role.

Song Lyrics Challenge: "But now it isn't true / Now everything is new."

Psychic Day: Write about a mind-reader/someone reading minds.

Gobstones: Bronze Stone. Prompts: slippery, Luna Lovegood, mutiny.

 **x.X.x**

When Ginny looks in the mirror, there is nothing new. Her mother's eyes stand out against her father's skin and even her smile isn't her own, but a shadow of someone long dead.

Ginny Weasley, seventh child of a seventh child, doomed to be nothing more than a repetition of past generations.

"What are you looking for in the mirror, Ginevra?" Tom murmurs into her ear, his breath hot against her neck. Ginny shivers.

Tom is composed and calm, but Ginny squints and the world glitches: his smile is bloodthirsty, horns spout from his ears, his teeth become sharp fangs.

"We're monsters, Tom," Ginny snaps and Tom smiles lazily.

"At least we know what we are," Tom says and when Ginny blinks, he's back to being the handsome and charming boy he pretends to be. "I've never said I'm anything else."

 _I wouldn't believe you if you did say that,_ Ginny thinks but she doesn't say it out loud. By the satisfied curve of Tom's lips, she thinks he knows exactly what she's thinking.

 **x.X.x**

 _It starts like this_ : Ginny Weasley is the seventh and last child of the Weasley family to be ushered through the Academy of Heroes. There is already a spot for her guaranteed and Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster and legend, does her introductory interview himself.

 _It continues like this_ : Albus Dumbledore's eyes twinkle but instead of seeing an ageing hero, Ginny sees the end of the world reflected- a venomous snake curled up in waiting.

 _It continues like this_ : Ginny recoils just at the same time as Tom Riddle, Head Boy and most promising prodigy, comes in.

 _It ends like this_ : Ginny escapes her mother's grasp just long enough to go to the bathroom and Tom grabs her hand on the way and hisses, "You see it too, don't you? You're one of us."

The world glitches and Ginny can see Tom for who he really is ( _hideous-monster-liar_ ) but she's learned one thing from living in two worlds, from having colours blur at her fingertips, from having the countdown to the end of the world pounding in her head and heart: sometimes you need monsters to beat monsters.

 **x.X.x**

"A token of the academy's appreciation," Dolores Umbridge, assistant director of the academy, says in her sickly sweet voice, attaching a gleaming badge to Ginny's jacket.

Tom laughs later when he hears it. "Ah, Dumbledore's recruitment scheme."

The words are foreign and dull on her tongue. "The Academy for Heroes was established by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore to train the next generation of superheroes against super villain Gellert Grindelwald," Ginny quotes, repeating the words her childhood was based around.

Tom raises an eyebrow and the gesture is so familiarly smug that Ginny feels like screaming, like raging till the world turns red and blurry. "Do you really believe that, Ginevra?"

No, she doesn't. She's not naive enough to think that Albus Dumbledore is a hero.

( _Halos lie but he never had one in the first place_ )

Still, she's not stupid enough to take Tom's words at face value.

"Tell me, Tom," Ginny questions and the world sharpens for a second - everything is getting clearer, "what's your superpower?"

It's forbidden to ask and even more forbidden to answer. The more people know about you, the more can get across to your enemies. Especially in a place like the Academy, where the price for failing in the missions is death.

"Oh, Ginevra," Tom taunts. "So very curious, aren't you? Very well, if it makes you feel better: I can read minds."

She doesn't even have the energy to pretend to be surprised. Tom has always known too much for his own good.

"And you?" Tom asks, raising an dark eyebrow. Ginny stares and she can see darkness lurking behind him like a cloud. When she blinks, it's gone. "Don't play games, Ginevra. Make this a fair trade."

"I can set things on fire and I can see the glitches," Ginny snaps, her eyes blazing. "And you're the last person who can lecture me on games."

Tom's returned grin is feral. "We're on the same side in this game, Ginevra. You don't need to worry about me."

 _Just about everything else_ , is the implication. Ginny frowns and it's because he's right.

 **x.X.x**

She meets the other members of the rebellion on a Sunday.

There's Harry, son of two other members, who has the messiest hair and greenest eyes she's ever seen. On his shoulder, an angel and a devil sit, whispering things into his ear.

A girl named Luna is beside him, her smile whimsical and eyes distracted. She can heal just about anything according to Tom and she's the rebellion's most prized medic.

Hermione has bushy hair and haughty eyes. She's the smartest and sharpest person Ginny has ever met, and her superpower is superhuman intelligence.

There are more - reckless kids and adults and teenagers who join this mutiny because they just want to save the world.

Hope fills the room like air; something tangible she can choke on. Her eyes begin to water. She hasn't believed in anything like hope since the day she saw Albus Dumbledore, the great leader, for who he really is.

She isn't planning on starting to feel things like hope now. It'll only make this harder.

 **x.X.x**

"You know, healing isn't my superpower," Luna says conversationally, her voice soft. "People think it is. They never ask but they always assume." Luna's voice drops as if she is about to tell a secret. "I think it's the nargles."

Ginny doesn't know what a nargle is and she isn't sure she wants to. "What is it then? Your superpower, I mean."

"I can see the future," Luna says, her eyes distant.

Ginny shoots up in place, unable to believe her ears. If Luna can see the future that means-

"Do we win?" Ginny asks hungrily, her eyes gleaming in hope.

Luna smiles sadly. "I don't know, Ginny. I haven't been able to see something ever since Tom brought you back; claiming you were better at seeing the glitches than anyone else he had ever met."

Ginny fights back the disappointment. "So you know nothing?"

"No…" Luna says, her voice trailing off. "I know we don't have a long time. Seven days until it happens."

"Until what happens?" Ginny asks, trying to prevent herself from snapping. Luna never seems to give a straight answer.

Luna's face is grim. "I don't know that either."

 **x.X.x**

Tom paces the length of the corridor.

"Damn it," he snaps, running his fingers through his hair. They snag and he swears angrily. Ginny would have mocked him if the situation wasn't so grim.

"What do we do?" she asks instead, her tone steady unlike the fear she feels in her bones.

Tom looks up as if remembering she is still here for the first time. "According to Luna, we have mere days to prepare for whatever showdown is happening. We need to get everyone ready. Now."

Ginny nods. Around Tom, fire curls alongside his wavy hair. Scales take over instead of skin. He looks terrifying, like a creature instead of a human.

He seems like someone who could survive an apocalypse, who could come back from the dead.

The fire curling around him familiar, Ginny wills herself to see more and the world stays still until she managed to get a closer look. She lets out a gasp.

The fire is hers. It is her power that is protecting him.

 _"We're on the same side, Ginevra,_ " she remembers Tom saying so long ago.

He was right.

 **x.X.x**

"You never asked why we hate Dumbledore so much," a voice says and Ginny looks up to see Hermione Granger standing in front of her; hands on her hips. "Why is that?"

Ginny looks up, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "What do you see when you look at Dumbledore?"

Hermione frowns. "Not all of us are as good as you at seeing the glitches, Ginny. I just see him as a person. But I know he's despicable."

"I can see him for who he really is: an absolute monster," Ginny answers, clutching her hands together in her lap.

"You said Tom looks like a monster, too. I heard it," Hermione reminds her.

"Tom is a monster," Ginny scowls. "You look hungry, you know. You've never looked satisfied since I've known you. Tom looks greedy, I see it in his eyes. But Dumbledore, he looks like death."

Hermione's brow furrows as she processes the new information. "Very well. Since you told me that, I'm going to tell you something else. Albus Dumbledore is secretly in league with Gellert Grindelwald, his supposed enemy."

Ginny shrugs her shoulders. It changes nothing. This fight is a part of her now, the same way seeing through people's illusions is. "Thank you for telling me."

Hermione smiles and it looks unearthly - more mechanical than human. Superhuman intelligence, indeed.

 _Same side_ , Ginny reminds herself. They all need each other.

 **x.X.x**

"It's happening," Luna cries out, her head in her lap. Her entire body shakes with sobs. "They're coming."

Every soldier in the rebellion leaps to their feet. Tom steps in front of everyone, but Ginny knows it is more for the glory of being commander than to protect anyone else.

Albus Dumbledore bursts through the wall just as it shatters. Behind him, an army stands in the Academy's colours.

"Everyone in this room shall be sentenced to treason due to their crimes against the Academy and its people," he shouts, his voice echoing through the room.

Tom glares. "Someone snitched," he hisses to Ginny, who nods. It is unfortunate but expected.

"We aren't going down without a fight," Tom calls, stepping further forward.

Dumbledore's frown deepens. "I did not want it to come to this," he says wearily. "But I must protect our world's best interest.""

Tom rolls his eyes and then he lunges.

The room breaks out in fighting and Ginny prepares herself before charging; fire bursting out of her hands. The entire world has glitched and she can see people for who they really are: monsters and criminals, inhuman gods and terrified children. The colours blur and then-

And then she sees red as a countdown begins in the back of her head.

 _Seven…six...five...four...three...two...one_...

 **x.X.x**

Ginny wakes up to the bland walls of a hospital room. Beside her, Tom lazily turns the pages of a magazine and smirks when he sees she is awake.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Ginevra," Tom says smoothly, reaching back to stroke her hair. "How are you feeling?"

Ginny shrugs away from his hand and feels her face split into a grin. They did it, clearly. They won.

"Your fire had some interesting effects," Tom says, clearly delighted. "Burned quite a few soldiers down. Bellatrix, Umbridge, just to name a few."

"My family?" Ginny questions, unable to stop herself.

Tom nods knowingly. "Captured but alive. They will live after some… relearning."

Ginny mirrors his action. It feels like the world has cleared up, like she can breathe easier, except-

"You still look like a monster," Ginny says in surprise.

Tom laughs, dark and delighted. "Dearest Ginevra, did you expect anything else? Saving people does not make me an angel."

Tom hands Ginny something and she frowns when she sees the object: a mirror.

"What do you look like to yourself?" Tom questions, his eyes pitch black and gleaming.

Ginny leans forward. Her own reflection greets her- red hair, horns, scales, war looming in the shadows of the eyes.

This time, she doesn't look away.

"I'm a monster," she whispers and Tom laughs harder, clutching at his stomach.

Ginny smiles despite herself. "What now?" she finds herself asking.

Tom smiles, as terrifying and cruel as ever. "We are now in a world where anything is possible, Ginevra," he says. "Anything you like, we can do."

Ginny reaches out her arms and he grabs them, pulling her out of bed. Her body feels weak and everything aches.

But at least she is alive; in a world where her sight will not be the only thing keeping her alive. Where she can be happy without trying to look away from the horrors the glitches reveal.

With Tom's hand in hers, Ginny steps out the door and into the future.

Behind them, a mirror shatters.


End file.
